Data Centers: Daily Notes | June 9, 2026
Charlotte joins the wave of moratoriums as a major metro hits pause, a Minnesota court tosses a hyperscale review, and Microsoft faces a six-hour grilling in Lowell Township.
At A Glance 🔽
- Charlotte, NC council votes for a 150-day moratorium on new data centers.
- Leeds, AL council enacts a one-year moratorium on data center campuses.
- Lowell Township, MI Planning Commission reaches no decision after a six-and-a-half-hour meeting on Microsoft's rezoning bid.
- Edmond, OK council pauses new data center permits through Dec. 31 with an emergency clause.
- Nassau County, FL commissioners approve a 12-month moratorium after a final public hearing.
- Festus, MO council blocks a certified recall election.
- Faribault, MN loses at the Court of Appeals, which finds the city's review of a 500,000-square-foot project inadequate.
- Suffolk, VA council tees up a June 17 vote on a temporary citywide ban.
- Greenville, WI trustees impose a yearlong moratorium on data centers 10,000 square feet or larger.
- Edmonson County, KY Fiscal Court enacts a one-year moratorium on data centers, AI, and crypto mining.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte City Council voted on Monday night to place a 150-day moratorium on new data centers, making the state's largest city the latest in North Carolina to do so.
The freeze does not touch projects that already have approval. Council Member Kimberly Owens noted the city lacks the legal authority to halt those, so they move forward unaffected. But, the pause gives council time to research impacts and hear from residents worried about noise and rising electric and water costs.
Leeds, Alabama
June 8 2026, 6:00 PM
Item 6. AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY ONE-YEAR MORATORIUM ON ALL PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT APPROVALS AND PERMITS FOR DATA CENTER CAMPUSES AND SIMILAR HIGH-IMPACT FACILITIES IN THE CITY OF LEEDS
Page 53 of 55 of Agenda Packet
Leeds City Council passed a one-year moratorium Monday night on all development approvals and permits for data center campuses.
No data centers are currently under development in the city, but residents raised concerns in recent weeks after Councilor Cary Kennedy reported that operators were eyeing Leeds. Councilor Sabrina Rose said she would make the ban permanent if she could, while Mayor Pro Tem Eric Turner said "forever" may not be legally possible and pointed to limited available land and the city's reliance on local water.
The city plans to update its zoning ordinance to address data centers long term. Council members said the facilities do not fit neatly into current zoning and want public input before deciding whether they belong in Leeds at all.
Lowell Township, Michigan
June 8, 2026 7:00pm
Hundreds packed a Planning Commission meeting Monday night that ran nearly six and a half hours, yet the commission reached no decision on Microsoft's rezoning bid for a data center campus.
Microsoft is seeking approval for its proposed Covenant Business Park near I-96, which would include five data center buildings, a utility substation, and an employee office building. The roughly hour-long company presentation was followed by about three hours of public comment. Microsoft said the campus would be built out over about 10 years and would not raise electricity costs for nearby residents, though neighbors voiced doubts about the project's long-term effect on local water.
More sessions are coming. A workshop is set for June 22, a regular meeting for July 13, and a second workshop for July 27 with Consumers Energy.
Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond City Council voted to pause new applications for data center land and building permits through Dec. 31, 2026, with an emergency clause making it effective immediately.
The issue returned after a late-May meeting, with leaders saying they want time to study different types of data centers rather than permanently block business. The council laid out a research timeline: two months to study impacts, a draft ordinance in three months, and a final draft in five. A member of an Oklahoma State University research committee, Ander Fleet, offered to examine 117 questions on water and energy use in a report titled "Considerations for Communities Evaluating Data Centers."
Residents raised concerns about water consumption, eminent domain, and pollution, while a few speakers backed data centers as a source of tax revenue.
Nassau County, Florida
Jun 08, 2026 05:00 PM
Nassau County commissioners approved a 12-month moratorium on new data center projects following a final public hearing that drew strong opinions.
The measure is a temporary pause. County staff will conduct a comprehensive review of potential effects on groundwater tied to the aquifer, electrical grid demand, land use compatibility, and environmental concerns including noise, lighting, and wildlife. Several residents urged caution, while others argued the pause does not go far enough. The county's fact-finding committee will keep meeting through the summer.
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Festus, Missouri
Festus City Council voted against holding a special recall election Monday night, drawing boos from the crowd in a dispute rooted in a proposed data center.
June 08, 2026
The Jefferson County clerk had certified all petition signatures, but the four resolutions to order a special election failed. The recall effort targets Mayor Sam Richards and Councilmen David Boyer, Michael Cook, and Kevin Dennis over their votes to advance the data center. City Attorney Brian Malone advised that the petitions were insufficient because they did not state facts amounting to misconduct, incompetency, or failure to perform legal duties. Cook abstained from voting on his own recall resolution, leaving Richards to cast the tie-breaking no.
Nearly 20 residents spoke in favor of the recall. Pending lawsuits over the petitions remain active, and organizers said only that they are moving to "Plan B".
Faribault, Minnesota
The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the city's environmental review of the proposed 500,000-square-foot Archer Datacenters project was inadequate, sending the city back for a more complete analysis.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy challenged the review, arguing it failed to properly analyze air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. The review had reported emissions 98% lower than expected for a facility of that size; during litigation, the city acknowledged the estimate assumed the data center would use no more electricity than a typical warehouse. The court agreed the city did not adequately explain how it concluded the project would have no significant environmental effects.
MCEA called the decision a win for residents' right to know a project's impacts before approval. The city said it was disappointed but committed to addressing all environmental issues tied to the project.
Suffolk, Virginia
Suffolk City Council voted on Wednesday to place a proposed temporary data center ban on its June 17 agenda while staff drafts permanent rules.
The vote does not ban anything yet. It sets up a June 17 motion asking the Planning Commission to amend the unified development ordinance to prohibit data centers in all zoning districts until the council adopts regulations. Council Member John Rector, who proposed the move, said planning staff need more time because data centers are a new and complicated land use, and he would prefer the city not get blindsided by an application.
Mayor Mike Duman backed the request, noting data centers are not specifically named in Suffolk's ordinance, which could raise questions about whether one could be built by right in an M-2 district.
Greenville, Wisconsin
Greenville trustees voted Monday night to impose a yearlong moratorium, adding another Northeast Wisconsin municipality to a growing list.
Village President Jack Anderson amended the resolution so the pause applies only to facilities 10,000 square feet or larger whose primary use is a data center, leaving room for businesses with smaller on-site data closets. Officials could extend the moratorium another six months when it expires. There are no current data center projects in the village.
To satisfy Wisconsin's moratorium law, public works director Keith Curran signed off that a data center could strain the village's water utilities and, in turn, emergency services and resident safety. Legality questions over whether a data center qualifies for a development moratorium have stalled similar moves in Brown County and the village of Wrightstown.
Edmonson County, Kentucky
The Edmonson County Fiscal Court enacted Ordinance EC26-18, a one-year moratorium on new data centers, AI processing facilities, and cryptocurrency mining operations, effective immediately after its second reading.
The ordinance halts new applications for permits, rezoning, building approvals, and business licenses tied to high-intensity computing while the county studies impacts on its electrical grid, water supplies, roads, and public services. Existing legal facilities are grandfathered in, and ordinary office computers are unaffected. Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey said the facilities are new enough that there is not yet enough long-term study to determine what is best for the community.
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